Hay-press.



Patented Feb. ,ll, I902.

W. W. WESTON.

HAY PRESS (Application filed Aug. 21, 1901.

2 Sheets-$heet I. v

(No Model.)

Wilgesses Patented Feb. ll, I902.

W. W. WESTON.

HAIY PRESS. (Applicatioh filed Aug. 21, 1901.)

2 Sheets--Sheet. 2.

(No Model.)

Wilgcsscs msrcn, u. c.

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. \YESTON, OF WESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.

HAY-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,952, dated February 1 1, 1902.

Application filed August 2] 1901. Serial No. 72,844. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known th'at'I, WILLIAM W. WEsToN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Weston, in the county of Richland and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and useful Hay-Press, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improved press for baling hay and other substances and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

One object of my invention is to effect improvements in the construction of the pressbox by providing the same with a pivoted door, which forms the upper side thereof, and by extending the sides of the press-box above the door for a suitable distance, the function of the door being to pack the hay in the press-box prior to the operation of the plunger in compressing the hay into a bale.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for automatically opening the packing-door as the plungeris retracted and for automatically disengaging the packingdoor as the plunger reaches the limit of its outstroke to cause the packing-door to fall upon the hay thrown into the press-box to pack the same therein prior to the instroke of the plunger, which compresses the hay into a bale.

A further object of my invention is to effect improvements in the power mechanism which operates the plunger.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a baling-press constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, showing the reverse side of the press. Fig. 3 is a par- .tial top plan View showing the power mechanism. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showing a portion of the rear end of the press-box, the packing-door, and the catch which looks the packing-door when closed. Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the catch which looks the side door when closed. Fig. 6 is a detail top plan view of the outer end or head of the plunger-bar, showing the sheave carried thereby for engaging the packing-doo'r-operating cord and the tappet to disengage said cord from said sheave.

In the embodiment of my invention I provide a pair of parallel sills 1, which are connected together by cross-bars 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6,

disposed on the upper sides thereof, as shown in Fig. 1. The cross-bars 4 5 have their ends projecting for some distance beyond the outer sides of the sills. The press-box 7 is horizontally disposed and is supported on the crossbars 3 4 5 6. The front end of the press-box is open The rear end thereof is closed, and the press-box is provided on one side at its rear end with adoor 8, which is pivotally mounted at its lower side, as at 9, whereby the said door may be opened outwardly to a horizontal position to enable a bale to be removed from the press-box. The said door has a bar 10 on its outer side at-its upper end, which bar when the door is closed to a vertical position may be engaged by acatch 11, which is pivoted to a'bracket 12, that is bolted to the side of the press-box. The-said catch has a shoulder 13, which engages the bar 10 when in looking position, as shown in Fig. 5. The ends of the said bar 10 when the door 8 is closed bear against studs 14 on the side of the press-box. Braces 15 connect the ends of the cross-bars 4 5 to studs on the sides of the press-box to strengthen the latter and enable it to withstand lateral stress. The rear portion of the side of the press-box opposite the door Sis provided with slots 16, which are horizontally disposed and of which there are a suitable number, and the rear end of the press-box is also provided with similar slots. The said slots, as will be understood, enable the wires which are usually employed for fastening the bales to be placed around the bales in the press-box.

Between the vertical sides of the press-box is disposed the packing-door 17, the same being pivotally mounted between the vertical sides of the press-box at the inner end of the latter, as at 18, and it will be observed by reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings that the said sides of the press-box extend above said packing-door when the latter is closed in a horizontal position in the press-box. When thus closed, the rear end of the said packing-door bears on the closed rear end 19 of the pressbox. I provide a catch 20 to lock the said packing-door 17 when thus closed. The said catch has its lower end pivoted to a bracket 21 on the rear end 19 of the press-box and has at a suitable distance from its pivotal point a projecting shoulder 22, which when said catch 20 is in a vertical position overlaps and locks the free rear end of said packing-door 17. The said catch 20 has a handle 23,-by which it may be readily operated to lock or unlock the door 17, and the catch 11 is provided 'with a similar handle 24.

and bottom of the press-box and the packing" door 17 when the latter is closed, and hence when said packing-door is open and hay is thrown into the press-box in a sufficient quantity to fill the same said packing-door when lowered will serve to pack the hay in the baling-chamber prior to the in or compressing stroke of the plunger.

On one side of the press-box are secured a pair of horizontal longitudinally-disposed beams 25, which are disposed one above the other at a suitable distance apart, and the said beams project beyond the inner open end of the press-box. A pair of obliquelydisposed beams 26 are secured to the inner end of the press-box at the side opposite the beams 25, andthe said beams 26 converge and are secured to said beams 25, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. In bearings in the meeting ends of the beams 25 26 is mounted the vertical axle 27 of a cam-drum 28, which is sub stantially of semi-ovoidal-form, the axle 27 being near the inner. end thereof, and hence the periphery of the said cam-drum is eccentric to the said axle 27. The said cam-drum is provided with a suitable sweep-lever 29, to which the horse or team may be attached, and the said cam-lever is mounted for partial rotation in reverse directions.

A vertical bar 30 has its lower end secured to the cross-bar 2 at a suitable distance from the inner end of the press-box, and the said vertical bar is secured to the beams 26 and is braced by diagonally-disposed bars 31, between which a pair of direction-sheaves 32 33 are mounted for rotation. At the upper end of the vertical bar is mounted a directionsheave 34, and at the lower end thereof is a block 35, in which is mounted a directionsheave 35. to the packing-door 17, as at 37, passes over the direction-sheave 34, engages the inner side of the sheave 35, and the said cord has its lower end secured to a longitudinally-disposed inclined beam 38 or other fixed point. The said inclined beam 38 is secured to the cross-bars 2 3 and projects outwardly from the inner end of the press-box, as shown.

A plunger 39 is disposed in the press-box and is adapted to'reciprocate therein. To one side of the plunger is pivotaily connected the inner end of a plunger-bar 40, which is here shown as comprising an upper section 41, a lower section 42, and a head 43, which connects the said sections at the outer end of a the plunger.

An operating-cord 36 is attached the plunger-bar. On one side of the said head is a sheave 44, and the operating-cord 36 is disposed in the path of the said sheave, so that as the plunger moves on its outstroke the said operating-cord is engaged by the said sheave 44, and thereby the packing-door 17 is opened from the upper side of the pressbox to uncover the press-box and enable the same to be filled with hay to form another bale. I also employ a division-block 45, which operates in the press-box in coaction with are springs 46, which engage the said division-block and lock the latter against a bale which has been pressed prior -to the removal of the bale, and while the plunger is in its outstroke. The operating-cord 36 is provided at a suitable point withatrip 47, which forms a cylindrical enlargement on the said operatingcord, and when the. latter has been drawn by the sheave 44 a sufficient distance to raise the In the sides of the press-box packing-door 17 in nearlya vertical position said trip engages a tappet 48 on the head 43 of the follower-bar40 and is caused by said tappet to disengagethe bight of the operatingcord 36 from said sheave 44 automatically, and hence the packing-door 17 is caused by its own weight to fall upon the loose hay in the press-box between the follower and the division-block and pack the hay prior to the ensuing in or compressing stroke of the follower.

The volute periphery of the cam-drum 28 is provided with grooves 49 50. A compressing-cord 51 is attached to the cam-drum at its outer end, is adapted to be wound in and unwound from the groove 49, passes around the sheave 32, and is attached to the head of the follower-bar 40. It will be understood that when the cam-drum is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 the same will cause the said compressing-cord 51 to move the plunger or follower inwardly in the pressbox to press the hay therein into a bale. It will be further understood that owing to the volute form of the periphery of said cam-lever and the eccentricdisposition of the axle 27 of the cam-drum the said plunger will be moved with comparative rapidity initially on its in or compressing stroke and thereafter with constantly-decreasing speed and a corresponding increase of power as the plunger reaches the limit of its compressing stroke. Hence the draft on the horse or team is not increased as the density of the bale increases.

A retracting-cord 52 is attached to the camdrum, as at 53, is adapted to be wound in and unwound from the groove 50, engages one side of the sheave 33, and is attached to the plunger-bar 40 near the inner end of the latter, as shown. It will be understood that the compressing and retracting cords are reversely disposed on the cam-drum, so that one will be wound thereby while the other is paid out or unwound therefrom, and hence by moving the camdrum successively in reverse directions the plunger will be caused to move inwardly and outwardly in the press box. While I have herein used the term cords asapplied to the elements 36, 51, and '52, it will be understood that in practice the same may be wire cables, chains, or any other suitable flexible connecting elements.

In order to cause the retracting-cord to be disposed and wound in the groove 20 of the cam-drum on the reverse strokes of the latter,

I provide a traveling pulley 54, around which plunger to impart reciprocating movement to the latter, direction-sheaves engaged'by said cords, and a traveling pulley, bearing on said cam-drum and around which said retracting-cord passes, substantially as described.

2. In a press, the combination of a pressbox, a pivotally-mounted packing-door, a reciprocating plunger, an operating-cord connected to said door, said plunger having an engaging element in the path of-whichsaided to be raised and lowered to open and close the upper side of the box, a plunger in the latter, means to operate the plunger, an oper ating-cord to open said packing-door, a trip on said cord, means, carried by said plunger bar, to engage and draw said cord and'open said packing-door, on the outstroke of said plunger, and a tappet, carried by said plunger to coact with said trip to release said cord from said engaging means and thereby permit said packing-door to drop to a closed position prior to the ensuing instroke of the plunger, substantially as described.

t. In a baling=press, a horizontally-disposed press-box havingits outer end closed,its

upper side open, a door in one of its sides, at the outer end thereof, and a packing-door to close the open upper side thereof, said packing-door when closed extending from end to end of the press-box and being hinged at one end to the inner end of the press-box, in c0m= bination with a plunger, operative'in said press-box, means, actuated by said plunger to raise said packing-door on the outstroke of the plunger, and release said door-when raised, so that the said packing-door will fall Joy-its own weight prior to the compressing instroke of the plunger, and means to lock said packing-door and side door, when closed, said side door permitting the removal of the bales and said closed outer end of the press= box coacting with the sides and bottom thereof and with the packing-door and plunger to compress the bales, substantially as WILLIAM w. WES-TON.

Witnesses:

O. M. DOUGLAS, J. N. RAWLINSON. 

